I apologize for the silence lately. I haven’t had a chance to sew since December’s alteration (which I realize I haven’t yet posted about, eek!) along with some health issues that accumulated rather rapidly (which are in the process of being resolved) and also concentrating most of my time working on my other passion: KIMONO!

In the interest of trying to catch up – I’m going to do a large post!

Mandarin Dress Alteration

I’ve had this dress for many years, initially captivated by the gorgeous colour and trim, the dress itself was hot, shapeless mess when worn! I think a potato sack may have been more flattering. In December 2011, I decided I wanted to wear something bright and cheerful for a Christmas party rather than my usual black (but I didn’t want to wear kimono). I didn’t have the time to make something from scratch, so I decided to finally alter this dress!

I removed the sleeves and unpicked the side seams (leaving the neck intact), and used Simplicity 1447 as the base for dart positioning and shoulder alterations:

Before and after pictures (click to see larger image):

Worn:

19th San Francisco Japantown Kimono Day – January 2012

I finally had an opportunity to wear kimono and to re-introduce my friend to kimono. You can read more about the day on my kimono blog: Naomi no Kimono Asobi

Lily Turned Two!

On the 1st of February, my baby girl turned two! I is hard to believe that two years ago, on my birthday, I was in the throes of labour! Why yes, we do share a birthday! So for our birthday, we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Kimono Stuff

I recently redesigned my kimono blog: Naomi no Kimono Asobi, to reflect my love of Taishō era kimono and fashion. The Taishō era (1912 to 1926) crossed over the Art Nouveau and Art Deco years, which is often displayed in kimono design, both in the fabrics and also the ensembles put together.

I’ve also been working on updating my collection catalogue. When I was pregnant, I fell behind in photographing my pieces, so I had many years worth to do! Thankfully, I’m almost caught up with my kimono and obi, however I still have a large number of accessories to photograph. If you’re interested in viewing the pieces: